


Care

by gingayellow



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, M/M, Pre-Kerberos Mission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 03:04:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13262289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingayellow/pseuds/gingayellow
Summary: There is a reason why Keith didn't trust a lot of people before Shiro. [Pre-Kerberos, Shiro/Keith implied, CONTENT WARNING for descriptions of past child abuse]





	Care

Title: Care  
Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender  
Characters/Pairing: Shiro/Keith  
Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: Not mine, anything mentioned here by name isn't mine  
Warnings: **Descriptions of past child abuse**. This not a dark fic/it ends happy, but please be aware of the warning.  
Notes: Oh wow, another pre-Kerberos fic. @_@ For hc_bingo, prompt is "abuse."

\--

“Keith,” Shiro said simply, “it would be a lot easier to check if your wrist is sprained if you took off your glove.”

“And I’m telling you again, it’s fine,” Keith spat back, even as he cradled his right hand. He’d turned eighteen back in October; he was an adult now. And while he wasn’t going to lie and say that he hated training, sparring, and studying with Shiro… there were things he was not going to let Shiro to do. At all. Ever.

And if this meant that Shiro was going to dismiss him as difficult and stop talking to him, then so be it. It would not be the first time he was rejected because he wasn’t friendly enough. And besides, Shiro would reject him once he knew the truth, anyways.

“Keith, you’re hurt. Please.”

“No.”

“Okay.”

“…What?” That didn’t happen. Usually people pushed him until they decided he wasn’t worth their precious time, and that there were other charity cases to ‘help.’

Shiro shrugged. “I want to help, but you are an adult. And you’ve beaten me in enough sparring sessions that I know that you know how to protect yourself,” he said with a rueful grin. “The ice is on the table, along with some painkillers. Let me know if you need anything else, okay?”

“Yeah,” Keith breathed as Shiro left. “Okay.”

“Keith.” Shiro glanced at him one more time. “I’m guessing you have a good reason to not take off your gloves. I won’t push, but if you want to talk, I’m here.”

“Okay,” Keith said after Shiro was gone. 

\--

Keith winced as he removed his right glove. He didn’t think it was sprained, but it did hurt, so he was glad that Shiro left the ice.

The bite mark was faded, but still noticeable.

… It had been the worst home they’d placed in. The woman kept a lock on her fridge, and they only ate two meals a day. Keith couldn’t remember why, but he did remember going to bed hungry almost every night. One day, she had left some carrots to chop up for stew on the table for a late dinner, and Keith was a child who hadn’t even since one packet of instant oatmeal at daybreak, so he’d grabbed a carrot and bit down. He’d been so busy trying to not starve, that he never noticed the woman find him until it was too late.

_You greedy little piece of… You like biting other people’s food?! Let’s see how you like it when I bite **you**._

The joke was on her. The wound was so bad there was no way Keith could hide it, and his teacher reported it the second she saw it. The woman was arrested, and Keith lived with a glum, but decent old lady after that. 

Everyone had assured him that it wasn’t his fault, but when the woman who was supposed to care for you kept telling you it was your fault while you cried, it stuck with you. And you built up walls that after awhile no one bothered to break down.

Well. Except for Shiro.

He winced again as he put the glove back on.

\--

“Hey,” Keith said, feeling more than a little awkward, standing outside the door of Shiro’s tiny student apartment. Most of the people living in the complex were upperclassmen or teachers. “Um. Thanks for earlier. And I’m sorry. I was… not in the best mood.”

“No problem,” Shiro replied with an easy grin. “Besides, we’re all allowed to be grouchy when we’re hurt.”

Shiro didn’t realize how much kindness meant to someone who’d been hurt, but that was good. He wasn’t wish a fraction of his life on Shiro. “I…I’m still not ready to talk about it,” Keith admitted. “But I wouldn’t mind some company for dinner.”

Shiro brightened. “Of course, my treat! And Keith?”

“Yes?”

Shiro’s smile made Keith’s face heat up. “Thanks for letting me take care of you.”


End file.
